1. Field
The disclosed embodiment relates to a straddle-type vehicle in which a braking unit is placed in the vicinity of a footrest.
2. Related Art
In so-called a cruiser-type motorcycle, i.e., straddle-type vehicle, typically, a footrest on which a rider puts or rests his/her feet on a footrest is arranged in a front lower portion of a vehicle body, and a braking unit is arranged in the vicinity of the footrest. In conventional technology, as such motorcycle, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-89382) discloses a motorcycle in which a master cylinder of a braking unit is vertically placed, and a reservoir that supplies hydraulic fluid to the master cylinder is disposed at a position higher than that of the master cylinder in order to prevent air bubbles from mixing with the hydraulic fluid in the master cylinder.
In addition, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-306171) discloses a motorcycle in which a master cylinder and a reservoir of a braking unit are disposed at positions spaced apart from a brake pedal arranged in the vicinity of a footrest, that is, on the rear side of the vehicle.
However, unfortunately, in the motorcycle disclosed in Patent Document 1, the master cylinder of the braking unit is vertically arranged and the reservoir is placed at the position higher than that of the master cylinder. Therefore, the master cylinder and the reservoir are unfavorably exposed in side areas of an engine and an exhaust pipe, so that the external appearance of the vehicle may be impaired.
In the case where the master cylinder is disposed in the vicinity of the engine or the exhaust pipe, temperature of the hydraulic fluid may be increased by heat from such heat generating components.
Moreover, in the case where the master cylinder is disposed in the vicinity of the footrest, the master cylinder is located near a front wheel, which may result in damaging of the master cylinder or in creation of dirty state by scattering substances (for example, flying stone, muddy water, and sandy dust) thrown up by the front wheel during running.
In the motorcycle disclosed in Patent Document 2, the master cylinder of the braking unit is spaced apart from the brake pedal, and hence, a power transmitting member needs to be provided therebetween. Furthermore, a bracket for attaching the master cylinder and the reservoir to a vehicle body frame needs to be provided in addition to a bracket for attaching the brake pedal to the vehicle body frame. As a result, the number of components increases, assembling work is made complicated, which may result in poor productivity of the motorcycle.